Micheál Mac Donncha, Dublin lord mayor banned by Israel, slips in after name mix-up at border

Micheál Mac Donncha went to a conference held in Ramallah in the West BankGRAHAM HUGHES/ROLLINGNEWS

The lord mayor of Dublin managed to evade Israel’s attempt to ban him from the country because border officials mistook his title for his name.

Israel’s Ministry of Strategic Affairs announced on Tuesday night that Micheál Mac Donncha would be denied entry because of his support for the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign and calls for a boycott of the Jewish state. The Sinn Féin councillor was already in Ramallah in the West Bank preparing for a conference. It emerged yesterday that officials had mistakenly put “Ardmhéara” as his first name on their watch list — the Irish language version of his title.

Aryeh Deri, the Israeli interior minister, wrote on his Twitter account that Mr Mac Donncha would be stopped and sent home when his…

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